Texans general manager Rick Smith made a rapid-fire visit to the NRG Stadium press box Thursday night to brag on the newest Texan, South Carolina’s acclaimed Jadeveon Clowney, but Smith excused himself after taking only a handful of questions, explaining, “We’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Indeed he does. The Texans must still take the right quarterback with the opening pick in the second round. They’re back on the clock as we speak.

And the leader in the clubhouse with the first round finished is, yep, Derek Carr. He’s the consensus highest-rated QB left on the board.

“It’s hard to find a weakness,” former Giants quarterback Phil Simms said of David Carr’s kid brother. “You know what the weakness is? The last name. Because his brother didn’t succeed . . . it’s unfair. The guy has size. He can make all the throws. And the guy can run. What’s not to like?”

Rich Gannon, another former NFL quarterback, calls Carr “the best pure passer” in the draft and suggests he’s a different kind of player than the Texans’ first-ever draft choice was. “He’s got size and arm strength, and toughness.”

But the fact that his sibling failed miserably in Houston makes things infinitely more complicated for the Texans.

Having landed the consensus best prospect in this draft class and a once-in-a-generation-sized talent at defensive end made Smith “obviously very excited to have Clowney locked up,” but he’s hungry for more. Coming off a disastrous 2-14 season, which “won” Smith the right to pick first overall, the GM knows it’s going to take more than a single defensive end, however limitless the young man’s potential may be, to get the Texans turned back in the right direction.

Smith didn’t hang around long enough to address reports that the Texans are close to trading for the little-used Patriots backup quarterback Ryan Mallett – four passes attempted with one completion and one interception in three clipboard-toting seasons in Tom Brady’s shadow – nor did Smith have time to speculate on which rookie option he favored.

But apparently the Texans didn’t think enough of Bridgewater to trade up into the tail end of the first round as the Vikings did, never mind that the Louisville Cardinal was judged by many to be the best QB prospect of them all before he had a poor pro day. Does that mean they’ve made their peace with the Carr brand? Could Smith still be considering LSU’s Zach Mettenberger, whom they seemed to pay special attention to during the long pre-draft vetting process this spring despite his ACL surgery? How about Alabama’s A. J. McCarron, the consummate proven winner in the bunch?

Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage is there for the taking, too, as is Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo, to whom they paid a visit.

Might they even wait until the third round for their quarterback of the future and ferret out desperately needed help for the offensive line first?

“We have a bunch of picks and a bunch of opportunities moving forward,” Smith said.